Secrets of the Museum

Updated Wednesday 14th July 2021

Inside every museum is a hidden world, and now cameras have been allowed back behind the scenes at the world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London. And although many of us have had to stay away over the last year, in the V&A’s workshops and storerooms, the work has continued to conserve some of the two million wonders in the museum’s collection.

Only a small part of the museum’s collection is ever on display. But in this series, we go behind closed doors to explore all the treasures of art, design and performance the museum has to offer. We follow experts and conservators at work in this treasure trove of the nation’s favourite objects, as they breathe new life into fragile marvels, uncover hidden stories, and work tirelessly to keep the past alive for all of us. Secrets of the Museum (Series 2) returns to BBC Two from Tuesday 20^th July at 8pm. To find out more and for iPlayer links, please visit the BBC website.

About the TV series

Find out more about the episodes in the six-part series from The Open University, in partnership with the BBC.

Series 2 - Jacob Jordaens: Renaissance Watercolours: Behind the scenes at the V&A, a suit from glam rockers Slade needs some TLC, a Michelangelo gives up its secrets, and a rare Renaissance watercolour requires urgent attention.
Series 2 - Episode 2: Some of the largest paintings ever seen at the V&A are unveiled, Manuel’s costume from Fawlty Towers goes on show, and the museum’s oldest teddy bear has a special visitor.
Series 2 - Episode 3: At the V&A, a rare set of Lucian Freud prints creates a stir, a fragile 600-year-old tapestry is on the move, and a new exhibition attempts to bring Alice in Wonderland to life.
Series 2 - Episode 4: At the V&A, Shirley Bassey’s favourite outfit must look its best for its debut, a Victorian vase gets a chance to shine, and a rare Chinese painting brings huge challenges.
Series 2 - Episode 5: Behind the scenes at the V&A, Winston Churchill’s despatch box needs attention, it’s removal day for a 350-year-old doll’s house, and a famous painting by Constable is on the move.
Series 2 - Episode 6: At the V&A, a Buddhist painting is a mystery, children’s art goes on show, and Josiah Wedgwood’s masterpiece - the Portland Vase - is brought into the 21st century.
Episode 1: Behind the scenes at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a toy elephant needs urgent TLC, Christian Dior gowns get a new lease of life, and Kylie’s dressing room gives up its secrets.
Episode 2: Behind the scenes at the Victoria and Albert Museum, priceless Raphael paintings give up their secrets. Keeper James gets hands on with Beyonce’s ring and Queen Victoria’s coronet.
Episode 3: Behind the scenes at the V&A, a Mary Quant minidress needs a deep clean. Queen Victoria’s writing case goes on show, and curators acquire the banners of Extinction Rebellion.
Episode 4: Behind the scenes at the V&A, an original Star Wars costume is missing its head. A rare photo of David Bowie and an original road sign are added to the collection.
Episode 5: At the V&A, Frankenstein’s monster must be brought back to life. Curators discover photographs of the real Alice in Wonderland, and Shakespeare’s First Folio is repaired.
Episode 6: Behind the scenes at the V&A, transporting a unique car is a struggle, a rare medieval jewel undergoes a deep clean and a work of mosaic art has experimental surgery.

Explore art and curation

Have a go at curating the museum’s collection yourself and watch exclusive interviews with the V&A’s curators.

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Can you be the curator?

Put yourself in the shoes of a specialist charged with the V&A's collections. Can you place a range of objects into the correct place in the museum? Try this interactive.

Take part now ❯Can you be the curator?

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What's it like being a museum curator?

Expert curators from the V&A, give us the lowdown on what it's like a being a museum curator.

Watch now ❯What's it like being a museum curator?

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What do you see? How images can change what you think

Are images we see every day always what they seem? Look beyond your first glance and discover how images can persuade you to think a certain way.

Take part now ❯What do you see? How images can change what you think

Learn with the OU

Take a look at the related qualifications and FREE courses we offer at The Open University.

Our Qualifications:

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BA (Honours) Art History and Visual Cultures

This degree will equip you with the knowledge and critical skills to understand the histories and theories of visual, material and spatial cultures. This will be a rich and rounded experience as you go beyond the contextual study of art, architecture and design. You'll explore the power of images to influence debates, both historically and in the present day, and develop transferable skills in visual literacy. As you progress you'll acquire critical skills that address the subject area’s place in the wider humanities and as a component of study in the creative or cultural industries.

Read more❯BA (Honours) Art History and Visual Cultures

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BA/BSc (Honours) Open degree

Do you want the freedom to study a range of subjects? Then our Open qualifications are ideal. The BA/BSc (Honours) Open is an honours degree with a difference. Free from the restriction of a subject-specific specialism, you can set the direction of your learning. By choosing modules from over 16 subject areas, you'll create a bespoke qualification that reflects your interests, or helps you stand out in the competitive job market.

Learn more ❯BA/BSc (Honours) Open degree

Our Modules:

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Exploring art and visual culture

What is art and how has it changed through history? How do artists create works of art? If you're interested in the place of the visual in our lives, then this module is for you. You'll look at major artworks from Raphael to Vermeer, the Pre-Raphaelites to Picasso, and at buildings from Westminster Abbey to the houses of Le Corbusier. You'll study the religious imagery and court art of the Medieval period and Renaissance; the growth of modern cities and art rooted in classical traditions; and finally look at changing approaches to art making from Manet and the Impressionists to the global contemporary. .

Learn more ❯Exploring art and visual culture

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Art and its global histories

This module presents a new history of art, starting with the Renaissance, when Europeans encountered a new range of desirable objects from across the globe. You'll explore the role of art and architecture in colonial expansion up to 1800, before looking in depth at art and culture in British India. The vital role that art played in the stories that Europeans have told about the wider world are highlighted, with suggestions as to the ways in which these stories might be challenged or revised. The module concludes by analysing the globalisation of artistic practice from the twentieth century to the present day.

Learn more ❯Art and its global histories

Our Free Courses:

Photo: © 2017. Art Resource/Bob Schalkwijk/Scala, Florence. © Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./DACS 2018
Art and the Mexican Revolution

In this free course, Art and the Mexican Revolution, you will explore one of Diego Rivera’s key murals which was commissioned by the Mexican government in the period after the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920. These monumental public artworks, designed to win over the Mexican peasantry and working-class to the new post-revolutionary state, brought Mexican mural artists international acclaim and Rivera was subsequently awarded important commissions in the United States. Yet, due to his commitment to a figurative form of propaganda, Rivera’s reputation suffered during the Cold War period and these Mexican murals are now largely left out of dominant accounts of twentieth-century United States art.

Learn more ❯Art and the Mexican Revolution

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Making sense of art history

You can prepare for this free course, Making sense of art history, by looking around you. It's likely that wherever you are you'll be able to see some images. It's also likely that many of these will be intended to have some sort of effect on you. In the course itself you will be exploring the power of images via a study of contemporary art from the 1980s onwards. Taking the time to look beyond the immediate appearance of an art work to consider what the artist might be trying to say can be immensely rewarding.

Learn more ❯Making sense of art history

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Textiles in Ghana

Textiles in Ghana carry a far greater importance than you might expect. This free course will help you to understand how textiles can carry an assortment of meanings and values, including wealth, status and office.

Learn more ❯Textiles in Ghana

Meet the OU experts

Meet Dr Clare Taylor and Professor Leon Wainwright, the OU academic consultants on the series.

Dr Clare Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Art History

Clare Taylor - academic photo Copyright: The Open University Clare is a historian of art and design who specialises in the interior and its decoration. After a first degree in History at Durham, she studied Art Gallery & Museum Studies at Manchester and worked as an art curator at galleries including Manchester and Aberdeen where she was responsible for the restoration of a historic house museum and contributed to exhibitions on topics ranging from Scottish watercolours to the growth of public parks.

Her research is about how and why consumers decorate their homes, the designers who create goods for the interior, and the firms who manufacture them. Clare’s current project concerns gilt leather across Britain and Ireland, and she discussed a panel in the museum’s collection in a recent contribution to the V&A Magazine.

She has convened and written for the Art History block of a major new interdisciplinary level one module in Arts & Humanities, A112, Cultures. Her teaching materials included a chapter exploring the Elizabethan country house, while for the third level Art History module, A344, Art & its Global Histories, she has written about the impact of interactions between Asia and Britain on eighteenth-century design, drawing on objects in the V&A.

Find out more about Clare and her research in her academic profile .

Professor Leon Wainwright, Professor of Art History and Head of Department

Professor Leon Wainwright produces internationally excellent research outputs on modern and contemporary art. He co-curated the UK’s first nationally-funded solo exhibition of a Caribbean artist (The Walker Art Gallery) and serves as Art Editor of Wasafiri Magazine (supported by Arts Council England).

He has brought out seven books, including the single-authored titles Phenomenal Difference: A Philosophy of Black British Art (Liverpool University Press, 2017) and Timed Out: Art and the Transnational Caribbean (Manchester University Press, 2011). Most recently he co-edited the latest volume in the successful series of anthologies Art in Theory: The West in the World, together with Paul Wood (Wiley Blackwell 2021). He is a recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize (The Leverhulme Trust).

Find out more about Leon and his research in his academic profile.

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Originally published: Wednesday, 14th July 2021

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Body text - Copyright: BBC
Image 'Mid-shot of Textiles Display Expert Gesa Werner, tying an obijime around the Wafrica Kimono by Serge Mouangue ' - Copyright: © Simon Lloyd for Blast! Films
Image 'museum curator, Alice Minter profile' - Copyright: BBC
Image 'Launch image for 'What do you see' interactive' - The Open University under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
Image 'Painting by François Dubois, depicting the St Bartholemew's day massacre' - Copyright free: Public domain
Image 'Colourful bookshelf, full of books' - Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
Image 'Mountains at sunrise' - Copyright free: 12019
Image ' Photo of a medallion with a portrait of Gennadios ' - Image sourced from Wikipedia under Creative-Commons license
Image 'Making sense of art history' - Copyright: Used with permission
Image 'Textiles in Ghana' - Copyright: Used with permission
Image 'Clare Taylor - academic photo' - Copyright: The Open University
Image 'Leon Wainwright - academic photo' - Copyright: The Open University
Image 'Small teddy bear (Little Tommy Tittlemous) being inspected by conservator Nora Meller with a magnifying glass ' - Copyright: © Simon Lloyd for Blast! Films
Image 'Mid-shot of Frances Hartog vacuuming part of a Devonshire Hunting Tapestry, which features two women in medieval clothing ' - Copyright: Matt Kennedy for Blast! Films
Image 'Leon Wainwright and Clare Taylor' - Copyright: The Open University

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